Vermont

Nothing but rolling hills as far as the eye can see

A country girl at heart, I tend to go a little...stir crazy...when I'm forced to stay in the city during the summer.  Mainly I just feel suffocated by the heat, but when I'm suddenly struck by an overwhelming urge to shove tourists out of my way, and scale the sides of buildings to avoid crowds....it's time to get away.  Probably sensing that I was practically at a psychotic break, Pat (who is also from Vermont) suggested we spend the weekend with his family in Brattleboro. 

Almost a year later, the destruction from tropical storm Irene is still all too apparent in Pat's town.  Store fronts are closed, apartments are boarded up, and a fundraising campaign called "I am Vermont Strong" sells license plates and bumper stickers in almost every store.  One of the best parts about Vermont is the incredible sense of community that has only been strengthened by this crisis.   Vermonters bought local before it was trendy simply because it was the right thing to do.  In this spirit, Pat and I thought there would be no better way to give back to the community than to spend an afternoon perusing mom and pop stores and eating all of their creemee's and fudge.

Ok maybe that was a little a selfish too.......creemee's are just soooooo goooooooood!

Creemee's are much like traditional soft serve ice cream, but with a higher cream content so they taste INFINITELY better.  As far as I know, you can't get them anywhere outside of the state.

The River that runs through Wilmington, Vt.  During Irene, the water level was about 10 ft higher than this picture.

Absolutely amazing Apple and Maple Pumpkin butter made in Brattleboro

Every variety of maple everything you could ever dream of!

* If you're feeling exceptionally generous and would like to donate to the rebuilding effort, donations can be made here